I'm watching Blade Runner for the first time right now, 50 minutes in and it's decent enough but I don't think I'll be one of the people saying its one of the sci fi films of all time. Very interesting setting though.

Edit, now finished. Overall it's ok but I can't say I've got any burning desire to rush out and see Blade Runner 2049.

I'm watching Blade Runner for the first time right now, 50 minutes in and it's decent enough but I don't think I'll be one of the people saying its one of the sci fi films of all time. Very interesting setting though.

Edit, now finished. Overall it's ok but I can't say I've got any burning desire to rush out and see Blade Runner 2049.

Blade Runner is a noir

TSF sQuad life ~ pour one out for Sangmin
"People who work at Nisa:'Look, I have a job'." [Decretum, B&M employee circa May 2016]

At the risk of alienating everyone here, I watched Blade runner for the first time last Saturday and I ended up turning it off about an hour into it - I thought it was rubbish. I really don't get why its got the cult following it has.

I also saw Blade Runner the other day, was pretty sick. Aesthetic and sound was fantastic, liked the focus on Gosling rather than Ford for most of the film too. If anything I think it's after Ford was introduced that it slumped a little, the ending felt a little bit limp tbh.

I was expecting K to "die for the right cause" by claiming to be the child then killing/destroying himself so that Deckard could go free and Wallace would stop looking for the child, would've had more impact than just a generic end-of-film fight in the rain.

Ghost wrote:and since when has "being dumb" been a sin on the internet?

I also saw Blade Runner the other day, was pretty sick. Aesthetic and sound was fantastic, liked the focus on Gosling rather than Ford for most of the film too. If anything I think it's after Ford was introduced that it slumped a little, the ending felt a little bit limp tbh.

I was expecting K to "die for the right cause" by claiming to be the child then killing/destroying himself so that Deckard could go free and Wallace would stop looking for the child, would've had more impact than just a generic end-of-film fight in the rain.

You didn't find it impactful that it ended with K dying on the steps while Deckard met his long-lost child?

The fight wasn't just a generic end-of-film fight either, it had more to it. Luv stabbing K in the stomach then kissing him and leaving him for dead was her directly copying Wallace's killing of the newborn replicant earlier in the film. She was a great character who could be seen to also be struggling with her identity and sense of self/life throughout

I guess I expected/hoped for more of a twist in the tail, whole film up until that point had been brilliant with how it leads you on to think one thing then turns it on its head (K is the child, no wait it's the memory maker;
Joi really is breaking her programming and loves K, no wait the AI is just perfect at telling what people want to hear etc.). Then in the final act K is told to go and kill Deckard but fairly obviously is going to free him instead somehow. Impactful was maybe the wrong choice of words, the end result is still emotional, just not as bold/surprising in how it gets there.

Ghost wrote:and since when has "being dumb" been a sin on the internet?

I thought the idea of the end was when the leader of the resistance says that it's good to die for the cause she means Deckard and instead he chooses to sacrifice himself so that Deckard can continue to live; as he thinks of Deckard like a father. Hence Deckard's question of "What am I to you?" K wanted to believe he was the child and even after he knows that he isn't he continues in his delusion exhibiting the typical childish nature of a replicant. Love's taunt of "I'm the best" after fighting K is another reference to the childish oneupmanship the replicants exhibit throughout the film and the original.

I don't think he clung to the idea of being a the child or treating Deckard like a father. K (and the audience) were led to believe that being the child and being "born" was what made him special and more "alive", but then he gets hit by the twist. The resistance leader tells him that it's not who you are that defines you though, but the cause you take up. K realises that it wasn't thinking he was the child that made him truly alive- after all he still had those emotions and went off-baseline when it wasn't true. It was taking up the cause that made him alive. Dying for it was the ultimate validation of self.

Luv is definitely distracted by oneupmanship and wanting to prove she is the best, and she is definitely child like - imitating Wallace whilst also being conflicted in her feelings towards other replicants. I think she's also seeking validation in a similar way to K, but K finds it from himself which is why he wins out.

If it was the cause that mattered to K his subsequent actions aren't in keeping with that. He would be more valuable to the cause alive than Deckard is. If he was truly taking up the banner he would have left Deckard to drown as he was instructed. Nexus-9s are not supposed to be able to disobey, at all, so K choosing not to kill Deckard is not in keeping with his fundamentals as a replicant. If he felt no attachment to Deckard why would he let him live? Deckard's merely being alive jeopardises the cause. If K had no emotional attachment to Deckard he would have done what he was sent to do, but he spares him because he had built Deckard up in his mind to be his father and even after the reveal that he isn't still has an emotional attachment to him.

K's deviation from baseline was his acquisition of a soul, something alluded to in the film by his boss. He drifts because he starts to believe in having his own agency and making his own decisions.

I also didn't believe for very long that K could be the child, it was way too convenient for the narrative and would have made for a worse film. So I kind of metagamed the film's narrative to get to the right answer way before the reveal. It's possible that it wasn't an accident that he was the one with the implanted memory and also the person sent to deal with Sapper and ends up entangled.

Thor Ragnarok was brilliant, love that it’s not as serious as the previous two Thor films, as I always felt that was what held them back. Now though, it’s another very funny Marvel film, that begins to compete with Guardians as best Cosmic Marvel Film

Accidentally saw Justice League with my wife yesterday (yes, really: we wanted to see Paddington 2). It's just as CGI-heavy as all the other DC films (with the exception of Wonder Woman - hooray for practical effects where possible!) and does suffer from having to set up a few people (Cyborg will be better next time, f'r example) but it's got a sense of fun.

Saw Justice League last night. Eeeeh, not in a rush to see it again. I thought the bad guy didn't really feel threatening enough and the Flash was just annoying. The CGI was very hit and miss throughout and CGI'ing Henry Cavil's face for the entirety of the movie just made him look awful, I get they had to do something to hide his beard but come on, at least be consistent. And the bad guy's entry and exit portal was blatantly a Thor rip off.

I could go on with loads more. I did like Superman's new suit though and I do feel gutted that his last few movie appearances have been average at best (down to bad movies) - even though Henry Cavil makes a great Superman himself.

There's probably going to be some backlash through those comments but I don't care, it could have/should have been so much better.

Just came back from seeing Justice League myself and found that the positives outweighed the negatives - didn't even notice Superman's upper lip, despite intentionally drawing my eye toward it in certain scenes.

Just like the warehouse scene in BvS, the opening to this film left me again wanting for a solo Batman film, Batflek or no Batflek. And on the subject of Batman, I could've sworn there was a hint of Keaton era in the music somewhere.

Rest of the league were great also, especially Flash but overall just seeing this ensemble tear through an army of parademons under a bloody sky would've touched the bar I had set going in. Steppenwolf didn't do much for me other than to be a glorified punching bag, I could quite clearly tell what scenes consisted entirely of CGI and I feel that Cyborg was a bit too easily persuaded.

Definitely cool to see Deathstroke roll up post-credits; could be more exciting if not for the uncertain future of the DCEU.

For DC's shortest film to date the irony is that really it needed to be much longer - a few more scenes establishing the new characters, and just more of them interacting in general - the chemistry between this new team was awesome and certainly on par with Avengers considering we barely know these guys. But once it really got going it just ended - and rather abruptly at that. After Steppenwolf Boom tubed out I expected a further fight to ensue... but nothing, it oddly felt less high stakes than Man of Steel and BvS considering the threat we're told. We're info dumped with those Mother Boxes too which is fine - but seeding of these more in the previous DC films would have worked better.

I suppose at the end of the day Justice League was a 2-parter originally and as such this movie still feels like "Part 1" as a result (I'm guessing the original plan was to have Darkseid followup) but this has been delayed until further notice now, especially with the consideration that a League of Villains may now be forming.

Overall all the characters were mostly well handled. I've never had much issue with Cavil's Supes or Batfleck - nice to see a redemption arc for him here - and Wonder Woman is as ever a highlight. The Newbies didn't disappoint either... Erza Millers version of The Flash was different enough from the CW show to be likeable, hilarious and quite the scene stealer. The new take on Aquaman was excellent too - although he really embraced his character we as the audience are just not given enough screen-time to get a handle on his character, but i do look forward to an Aquaman movie. I think perhaps Cyborg was maybe the weak link... but even then he wasn't exactly bad and was pretty central to the plot - just needed more (hence longer running time). That Green Lantern Cameo at the beginning FTW though!

And although the score didn't quite peak like Han Zimmers previous two entries... I did geek out at certain aspects of it, especially with Danny Elfman reutilising his iconic & classic Batman track from the original 1989 Batman Movie and The proceeding Batman Animation Series - not to mention he even pulled off a quick riff of John Williams original Superman score in there as well.

The CGI was very hit and miss throughout and CGI'ing Henry Cavil's face for the entirety of the movie just made him look awful, I get they had to do something to hide his beard but come on, at least be consistent. [/Censor]

I do feel the need to amend here - because although it was painfully obvious to spot, really it was only visible in about all of 2 scenes. That you thought it was inconsistent lends to the fact that Henry Cavil shot all his scenes in the film without a moustache - and it was only months later during Joss Whedon's reshoot did he then sport the additional facial hair which ensued the hilariously pointless stories and online articles. Honestly, it's no worse than actor's having fake beards glued and strapped to their chins.